Absolutely AMAZING! Love love love! Deserves all the stars and more!!! Might be my fav Katherine Center book - tied with Thing You Save In A Fire!! A well done romance that had me hooked from page one! Highly recommend🤩

Probably my favorite Katherine Center book so far! I loved the banter and chemistry between our MCs. I felt like I was reading a Nora Ephron script, because this rom-com is charming, laugh out loud funny, and pulls at my heart strings. Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for a review.

For whatever reason, I was really stressed to read this book. I think I thought it was going to be sad and dramatic and I just don’t have the mental energy or desire to read sad and dramatic books. However, I’m glad that I made myself read it because I was wrong! I love being wrong…in these instances. Hello Stranger is so SO sweet. I loved the main character Sadie, a portrait artist who develops face blindness after surgery. Do you see the issue here? It takes time, therapy, and changing the way she speaks to herself, but I love the way she works through not only her face blindness, but also some past trauma. Sadie’s rediscovery of what brings her joy brought ME joy. The rollerskating scene? *Chef’s kiss.*

Joe…oh Joe. What a CUTIE. What a SWEETHEART. The way he is basically obsessed (in a good way) with Sadie had my heart. I was a bit concerned with the love triangle that presents itself in the story…but it worked out satisfactorily. *Wink wink*

There wasn’t much that I didn’t enjoy about the story, but the aspects that annoyed me are worth talking about. This will have *minor* spoilers, but I will try not to reveal too much. Aimee (@theonewhereaimeereads on IG) mentioned in her review of this book that she rated this book 4/5 stars because of Sadie’s dad and her stepsister Parker. I agree completely with her reasoning on this! Parker is truly horrible and their interactions didn’t do a lot for me. A lot of the trauma Sadie carries from her teenage years stems from a lot of awful incidents that Parker instigated and blamed Sadie for…and Sadie’s dad and stepmom took Parker’s side. Now, by the time our story takes place, it’s been (by my count) about 15 years since all of this…and Parker is still horrible. Still doing everything she can to make Sadie’s life hell despite Sadie doing her best to just avoid Parker and it all felt…so childish in a way that didn’t feel authentic when reading. I don’t necessarily mean that I expected Parker to have transformed into a sweet and kind human, but her incessant targeting of Sadie didn’t feel realistic. She could have still hated Sadie, fine, but all of the things she does (even her dialogue) feels like she is still a teenager when in reality she is almost 30. In addition, I felt like her relationship with her dad and their issues also felt a bit inauthentic once the true root of it was revealed. I don’t want to spoil what that is, but again, after (over) 15 years in this case, Sadie’s dad also felt a bit ridiculous and their “moment of understanding” felt a little anticlimactic.

Now, despite the long paragraph above, this is truly a lovely book and I’m happy that I read it. I was all smiles at the end! Plus, the cover is so beautiful, and I’m a sucker for a beautiful cover. I highly recommend it if you want a sweet, romantic story with a lot of heart and joy.

Sadie Montgomery is ready for a different life. After years of scraping by as a portrait artist, she has made it as a finalist in a prestigious portrait competition, with a prize of $10.000. All she has to do is to paint one more portrait, the one for the final judging, that will be auctioned off after the final judging. She was on her way home from buying wine for the celebration party her best friend was throwing on her behalf when everything stopped. She was almost across the street, and then she was in the hospital.

When Sadie woke up in the emergency room, she found out that she had a seizure in the street, and a Good Samaritan rescued her from getting hit by a car. Days of tests reveal a small bleed on her brain, and surgery is recommended. Her first thought it to wait on the surgery for a couple of months, until the portrait competition is over. But when her dad visits her to let her know that what she has is the same thing that killed her mother when Sadie was only 14, Sadie agrees to the surgery. Everything goes perfectly, until one day, several days after the surgery, a stranger sits next to Sadie and starts talking to her like she’s Sadie’s best friend.

When Sadie realizes it is her best friend, she freaks out. This woman’s face is not at all familiar, and Sadie ends up getting diagnosed with face blindness. They doctors think it will probably pass, but she doesn’t know for sure. But how will she be able to paint the most important portrait of her life if she can’t see faces?

As she tries to recover back at her tiny studio, Sadie spends most of her time wrapped up in the softest blanket she could find while binge watching television shows. But when her dog Peanut won’t eat or even move, she has to rush the dog to the vet. And as it turns out, the vet is not only caring and compassionate and able to save Peanut’s life, he’s also handsome. Sadie may not be able to see his face exactly, but she can tell that he has a good face. So when he asks her out, she says yes.

But after sitting in the coffeeshop for an hour waiting for him, she decides it’s not meant to be. And then she runs into the Weasel, the guy from her apartment elevator who she overheard saying some very rude things one day. She sees him going in and out of the apartments of single women all the time, so she can’t help but think of him as kind of a jerk, even as he wears his vintage bowling jacket with Joe embroidered on it. But Joe the Weasel ends up saving her from a difficult situation at the coffee shop (not even the part where she got stood up), so she agrees to spend some time with him.

And then he rescues her again at a surprise party, and again in the hallway. The more time Sadie spends with him, the less she thinks of him as a weasel. And the less time she spends planning her wedding with the handsome vet. And when he agrees to sit for her, as she tries out different ways to paint a portrait without her being able to see her face, she falls for Joe. She picks Joe. She tells the veterinarian that she’s fallen for someone else. She’s ready to go all in for Joe. But then he ghosts her.

As Sadie is coming to the most important night of her life, with a non-traditional portrait for a very traditional competition, broken-hearted and still face blind, she has to face the idea that the rest of her life may not turn out the way she was envisioning it. But if her face blindness taught her anything, it’s that sometimes a change of perspective can open doors that you couldn’t even see before.

Hello Stranger is a hopeful story about loss and healing, and about how we choose to interact with the world around us. Author Katherine Center has crafted a warm, uplifting story about the ways we are all blind in some areas of our lives and how facing that and working to overcome it can change everything. This novel is sweet, heart-warming, funny, sad, and filled with the best (and a little of the worst) of humanity.

Normally, I would recommend a Katherine Center book wholeheartedly, but I just can’t do it this time. The first 30-40 percent of the book can be difficult. There is a lot of medical talk, so if that’s something you’re sensitive to, then you’ll want to be careful with the early chapters of the book. But then there is the scene that almost had me blubbering at the office as I ate my finished my lunch, the emergency vet moment. If you’re an animal person, then this scene may cause you distress too, so my recommendation is to read the first half of the book at home, or carry a lot of tissues with you. Once you get past that scene, it’s all good, animal wise, so feel free to read the rest of the book in public.

Aside from that one scene that nearly caused me a meltdown, I loved this book. It’s so charming and warm, and while I could see the twist coming from a mile away, I still loved this book. The more I read, the more I loved it, and the more I loved Center for bringing this story to us. You will put this book aside feeling like the world is not so bad, and that’s something that we all need these days.

Egalleys for Hello Stranger were provided by St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley, with may thanks.

It’s no surprise I love a Katherine Center book - this was my 6th and it was extra special because we got to chat to the author herself! She is just as wonderful and kind as you’d imagine, and I loved hearing her insight into the writing process and thoughts behind what all great rom coms should be.

The book itself is charming and funny as we follow Sadie through her diagnosis of prosopagnosia at a turning point in her life and art career. I love a good dog relationship and there’s an adorable one at the center of this book. While I did guess what would happen early in the book, I had fun the whole way through watching Sadie find her way. The characters are a little larger than life and so much fun. I highly recommend this and any other Katherine Center books for a lovely pick me

I absolutely loved this book! Katherine Center is now an auto-buy author for me. I read this in 1 day (I did same with The BodyGuard!) Hello Stranger was well written and definitely worth the read! I found this book to be fun, charming, and overall an easy read! Sadie has A LOT going on and I could not stop reading! I found the characters in this book to be extremely enjoyable, especially Sue and Joe! Though I picked up on the twist a little early I still really enjoyed reading and will be recommending! Happy Publication Day!!

Hello Stranger is a very cute new release by beloved romance author Katherine Center. I found the quirky main character, Sadie, to be delightful and funny.

Sadie’s dilemma: she is a portrait artist who has acquired prosopagnosia, aka face blindness. Sadie also carries with her grief over the death of her mother when Sadie was a young teen as well as resentment towards her father, stepmother, and stepsister. The novel remains light and Sadie’s character is silly amidst these serious stressors. The romance piece of the story was my favorite to read, and the stepsister storyline was my least favorite.

Loved…
-the author’s use of “fortnight” in a sentence (great word)
-Sadie’s memories of her bond with her mother
-Sadie’s relationship with her dog
-the medical talk

Best moment…
-When Sadie’s love interest says he already ordered a pizza. A surprise pizza order is the way to my heart.

Hello Stranger was a sparkling summer read. It was charming, sweet, and a little cozy. I was giggling nonstop. I loved the banter between Sadie and Joe and the relationship dynamics between Sadie and the other characters: Sue, Dr. Nicole, Mr. & Mrs. Kim, Parker, Lucinda, and her dad. Katherine’s writing made me sympathetic to Sadie’s journey after surgery; a reminder that people sometimes, quite literally, see things differently and that sometimes the things we deem most important don’t quite matter.

I also loved the ending and how subtle some of my favorite tropes were. Gah! I can’t wait for her next one.

I love Katherine Center. She does such a great job of creating unique plots and memorable characters. It's always a rollercoaster of emotions and I'm here for it. It's the perfect form of escapeism. This one was slightly predictable, so I was little impatient for the characters to have their "ah-ha moment", but I still very much enjoyed it. i can't wait for the next one.

I absolutely loved this book. This is my first Katherine center book although I own the bodyguard. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for giving opportunity to read this book early.
There are a few books that remain with vou until the end of time and typically one of them. Actually everything I may ever want in a book. Hi Stranger is such a special and endearing story that's so much more than a sentiment. It is about finding trust and enduring, in spite of all the battles and challenges in your life.
Center includes a way of pulling at your heart strings and making you drop in cherish with the characters. I cannot prescribe this book sufficient. This made me feel everything.
Intentionally, I am not talking about the plot since I feel like it is way better to go into perusing this dazzle. I will say that did predict the enormous bend but that did not take absent at all from the story. Center has creator notes at the conclusion that vou will not need to miss! Her depiction of the sentiment sort was on point. I was totally captivated from begin to wrap up and profoundly prescribe this book!!

This book was so adorable and was a nice refreshing little romance read. The ending surprised me and I loved it! I liked that it deals with face blindness, which I had heard of, but knew really nothing about. Katherine Center seemed very educated about it and built the story around it really well. I've read another book by Katherine and I look forward to reading more from her.

"Hello Stranger" by Katherine Center is Her Best One Yet!

Wow! It's been over two years since I've read a Katherine Center book. Two long years! So, I was worried about starting Hello Stranger and more than a little nervous, as well.

During this two year gap, I read less and less of the Romance genre, especially Rom-Com, as the stories began to sound muddled in my ears, my head, and in my heart. The thought of reading one more with the Insta-Love troupe or another with the bedroom door completely torn down, well let's just say it's not my idea of romance. I'm a little old fashion that way.

When I began reading and listening to "Hello Stranger" "all the feels" of a Katherine Center story came rushing back to me and all my concerns melted away. It was like visiting an old friend and getting a great big hug.

What I truly love about this author's storytelling is how she picks a topic, wraps it around a female main character who's struggling through it and trying to get to the other side as whole as possible.
Then, love walks in. And why not? Everything's a little better with it than without it, right?

In "Hello Stranger" our main character is Sadie Montgomery and she walks you through her story in a first person point-of-view that is touching, humorous, and believable. She's a struggling portrait artist who's having trouble seeing a few things clearly right now. That's enough to get you started and like all this author's stories, this one isn't only about romance, it's about life, dealing with challenging situations, memories from the past, and through it all, trying to carve out a future that works.

"Hello Stranger" was a joy to both read and listen to. My preference, by far, is the audiobook with the excellent narration by the talented Patti Murin. Her voicing is fabulous and worthy of a second listen!

There is one more thing you'll need to know about this author. I ugly cry with every single book I've read from her. Heck, I cried writing this dang review. I suggest you plan on having plenty of tissues to get through "Hello Stranger". It's a doozie.

I think I say this about every Katherine Center book after I've read it, this is her best one yet. I mean it this time. Really. I highly recommend "Hello Stranger" to everyone that reads!

5⭐

Thank you to Katherine Center, St. Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for a DRC and ALC of this book through NetGalley. It has been an honor to give my honest and voluntary review.

5/5⭐️

It’s been a few days since I finished this book and I’m still thinking about it.

Sadie is an artist that places as a finalist in a portrait competition. Winning this could be her big break but unfortunately after going through brain surgery she ends up getting diagnosed with prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness.

I absolutely loved this book. This was my first time reading a Katherine Center book and I’ll definitely be reading more in the future. Sadie was written with a lot of layers and I enjoyed being in her POV while she navigated face blindness, an art competition, family issues, grief, and falling in love. While this book is categorized as a romance, I would say there’s also a lot of focus on Sadie’s growth and finding her purpose. The premise of this romance was unique to me and I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an arc of this book!

Sadie goes in for a seamingly minor brain surgery but wakes up with prosopagnosia, face blindness. She has to navigate through this major life change not knowing which people surround her daily. To make it more complex, she works as a portrait artist who can no longer see faces! There is family drama with her evil step-sister and the book picks up when romance enters the picture. Will Sadie choose the dreamy vet to her beloved dog, Peanut, or her sweet and helpful neighbor, Joe, who she mistakes for a sleazebag?

I adored this one. It had just the right amount of self pity but followed with humor. I would have liked a little more spice but I love Katherine Center's writing style and definitely need to read more of her books! This is also available on BOTM.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Katherine Center for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

What You Wish For was one of the first ARCs I ever read and reviewed and while not my normal genre, I was so captivated by the story and the writing style. Fast forward a few years later and I can say those same words about this story too. And this face blindness. I had not heard of this a until a few years ago and it keeps showing up in all the books I read. Up until now it’s always been in thrillers, where the inflicted person is at a disadvantage with a killer, but this was a clever use in more of a women’s fiction/romance novel. Having Sadie need to rely on things other than a face to recognize the people surrounding her. I loved all the descriptions of people and how she remembered and recognized them.

Weirdly I rely a lot on the sound of someone’s voice and was surprised that wasn’t something she used. I am a knitter and will knit while “watching TV” and I put that in quotes because I am usually focused on the knitting and follow the show based upon hearing the characters. I am always recognizing someone in a movie based on that voice. Am I the only one?

But back to the book. I really was so invested in Sadie’s journey and her struggles to cope with her condition. How she filled in the blanks, both wrong and right. Katherine Center does such a good job of bringing characters to life and having you step into their shoes and feel what they are feeling. The good, the bad and the ugly. And while I continued to ponder Sadie’s perception of the world around her, the author pulled the wool over my eyes on the romance. I was a little slow on the uptake to the love triangle brewing. This would have been the perfect summer read and a contender for my favorite of the month if there was just a little less of Sadie’s parents being oblivious as to what was happening between their two daughters.

I flipped back and forth between the book and audiobook and loved the narration of Patti Murin. She expertly represented Sadie and all her emotions while allowing the story to shine. I really enjoyed both versions.

If you are ready for some slightly quirky characters and to get invested in the story, this should be part of your summer reading.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Katherine Center, and NetGalley for the eARC of Hello Stranger!

Sadie is a struggling portrait artist who’s just placed in the top ten in a prestigious art contest. To celebrate, her best friend Sue wants to throw her a party. When Sadie goes out to buy a bottle of wine but forgets her wallet, a stranger pays for her order after much resistance from Sadie. On her way home, Sadie freezes in a crosswalk and her life changes forever.

When Sadie wakes up in the hospital, she is told she’s had a non-convulsive seizure resulting from a deformed blood vessel in her brain. After much consideration, and force from her father since this is how her mother died, Sadie decides to have the surgery to repair the blood vessel. When she wakes from the surgery and people begin visiting, Sadie realizes she can’t see anyone’s faces. The swelling in her brain has led to face blindness. How is Sadie, a portrait artist, supposed to compete in this competition if she can’t see faces? It’s what she paints for a living!

Sadie begins crushing on two guys—Dr. Oliver Addison, her vet, and Joe, a man in her apartment building. Sadie struggles through her feelings to decide who she wants to spend time with. Will she choose Dr. Oliver Addison or Joe, neither of whose faces she’s seen before?

This book was phenomenal. I laughed, I cried, and I learned so much. I’d never heard of face blindness before. This book was incredibly eye-opening to looking for the good things in life. When you look for good things, you’re sure to find good things! Katherine Center is a genius. Highly recommend this book!

After an accident Sadie Montgomery is diagnosed with face blindness, and although the doctors say it is mostly likely temporary, it couldn’t have happened at a worst time. She just became a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition, and has to create a new portrait for the competition. As Sadie is trying to cope with her new reality, work her way through family issues, and continue her artistic dream she falls in lust with not only one man, but two very different ones.

The premise of this book was cool, and I love a book that makes me want to learn about new things. I now know a lot about face blindness which I didn’t know was a thing till this book. However, although a cool premise, the characters were just not my favourite, especially the main character, Sadie. I found her to be really self centred, especially with her best friend.

I typically love Katerina Center books, and love her development of romance for the characters, but this one was just a bit too much of a slow burn for me, and the love triangle didn’t work for me.

If you love Katherine Centre’s work, I would definitely try this one out. I know there will be a lot of people who will love the romance in this one, it just sadly wasn’t for me this time.

Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, & Katherine Center for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! Katherine Center does such an amazing job of making you feel like you're part of the story. I fell in love with these characters and was so sad when this one ended! Five++++ stars!

LOVED it!!! Sadie’s story is a unique one…. She’s an artist that’s made it to the finals in a what could be a life changing competition….. but after being diagnosed with face blindness, she faces so many obstacles….the hope is that it’s temporary, but will it be?! And,
will it correct itself in time for her to finish her painting for the competition. Throw in not one, but TWO love interests…. And everything becomes quite intense!! SO good!!!

Wanna make me fall in love with your romance novel? Add in a love story about a girl and her dog. I’m sold 🫶.
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Struggling portrait artist, Sadie Montgomery, finally gets her big break when she places as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition. The only problem is, a recent medical condition has left her with “probably temporary” face blindness. Faces are nothing but disconnected pieces, and she can’t draw a portrait to save her life. As her personal, professional, and family life begin to unravel, she falls for two very different men. But which man has her heart? And will she recover in time to paint a masterpiece portrait for the competition?
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What we think we see isn’t always what is, and nobody feels that more than Sadie. Center did a ton of research on prosopagnosia (face blindness), and it shows. I enjoyed experiencing the world through Sadie’s eyes, watching her work through grief and family drama, and cheering her along as she fell further in love (with both her dog Peanut and a man 😁❤️🐶).
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I laughed so much while reading this book! I also had approximately 4 tear-ups and 1 sob 😭🫶. Y’all know, any book that can make me cry this much is 5⭐️ 🥹.
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I read and listened to this book. Adding Patti Murin to my list of favorite narrators to watch for because she did a phenomenal job narrating. Thank you to @macmillan.audio @stmartinspress and @netgalley for these ARCs in exchange for an honest review!
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Hello Stranger - Katherine Center
5/5⭐️